The Effect of Soil Cultivation on the Humus State of Gray Forest Soil in the Middle Urals

The results of studies on the humus state of soils in agrosystems of the Middle Urals (1984–1997) are described. It is shown that the change of agricultural technologies (crop rotation, doses of organic fertilizers, etc.) transforms environmental conditions and the direction of humus formation processes. Parameters such as the concentrations of humus and water-soluble carbon and soil potential for humus accumulation reliably characterize the humus state of arable soil and allow the mobility and migration rate of humic substances to be monitored.     

Structure of the communities of small mammals (micromammalia) in forests on western slopes of the Northern Urals

Long-term data on the species composition and ratio of insectivores and rodents in forest ecosystems of the western macroslope of the Northern Urals are considered. It is shown that the micromammalian communities of mountain forests are characterized by higher total abundance and polydominance and comprise greater numbers of common species than the communities of taiga forests in neighboring regions of the Russian Plain. Hence, the mountain-forest communities of small mammals have high indices of species diversity and uniformity.Translated from Ekologiya, No. 2, 2005, pp. 138–145.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Bobretsov, Lukyanova, Poroshin.     

Accumulation and distribution of90Sr and137Cs in birch in the zone affected by liquid discharge from the Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Plant

The data are presented that concern the accumulation and distribution of artificial radionuclides (⁹⁰Sr and¹³⁷Cs) in the aboveground organs of birch growing in the vicinity of the Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in the permanently inundated part of the Ol'khovka swamp, on its banks periodically flooded with water, and in watershed areas not influenced by the swamp (control). Concentrations of both radionuclides in birch trees from the swamp and its banks were several times as high as in trees from the watershed. The distribution of⁹⁰Sr in birch trunk proved to be acropetal. Trees growing on the inundated part of the swamp and on dry land significantly differed in the distribution of¹³⁷Cs. The factors controlling the distribution and accumulation of both radionuclides in birch trees growing in these areas are discussed.     

Analysis of the Relationship between Soil and Vegetation in Forest Biogeocenoses by the Principal Component Method

Coordinated soil–geobotanical studies revealed a close correlation between the species diversity of phytocenoses and soil properties in the Russkii Sever National Nature Park (Vologda oblast). Soil acidity, together with the concentrations of exchangeable calcium, potassium, and magnesium, is a factor determining variations of species diversity indices for vascular plants and bryophytes in forest biogeocenoses.